Beleaguered Tree Nursery To Take Root Again

Bankruptcy Ruling Allows Beeson's To Rebuild After Years Of Turmoil

Emerging from bankruptcy after a string of bizarre setbacks, Thomas Beeson is planning a bigger and better Beeson's Nursery for the next 99 years in Lake County.

"The name of the project is Beeson's Corners," said the jubilant Beeson of his plans for rebuilding his 5 acres at Waukegan and Half Day Roads, property he was in danger of losing to creditors holding about $3 million in debts.

For Beeson, it was a storybook ending, after he appeared close to defeat several times in clashes with his own family, a former partner and an embezzling employee.

But Beeson's fortunes brightened recently when federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Erwin Katz approved a deal in which Beeson was allowed to raise $4.6 million to pay off his creditors, while keeping his property in unincorporated Lake County south of Lake Forest.

Beeson's Nursery, sellers of plants and trees, has been a Lake County fixture since 1946.

Beeson will lease the 5 acres for 99 years to American Stores Inc., the parent company of Jewel-Osco. An Osco store will be built on part of the property, and in a complicated agreement, American Stores will sublet part of the property back to Beeson for his nursery. A new bank also will rise on the site.

He also sold a shopping mall that he owned in Wilmington, N.C.

It took a bit of legal finesse, explained Beeson's lawyer, George Grumley of Rudnick & Wolfe in Chicago.

"For Beeson, it represents a tremendous amount of cash to pay off his debts," Grumley said. "It permits him to pay his creditors in full and permits him to stay on the property and to own the property. For being on the brink of very difficult times, this worked out very well for him.

"He is both the owner and the sub-tenant. It was complicated, but it worked. He's assured himself a millionaire for many years."

Beeson's brinkmanship began in 1992, when he bought the nursery business from his parents, Charles and May Beeson of Harvard, for $1.5 million.

Charles Beeson died in 1995, and the $1.5 million mortgage was placed in a trust. The trustees, a brother and a sister of Thomas Beeson, sued for foreclosure in 1997, saying Thomas Beeson had defaulted on mortgage payments while running up debts of $1.9 million.

Libertyville real estate investor Peter Bell, a former partner of Thomas Beeson's, bought two mortgages on the Beeson property for $2.5 million, including the mortgage held by Beeson's brother and sister.

Complicating the case, Lynn Garrett of Gurnee, a former bookkeeper for Beeson, pleaded guilty Sept. 1 to embezzling about $1 million from the nursery, seriously undermining the financial stability of the business. Garrett was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Beeson appeared to be on the brink of disaster Dec. 1, 1998, when a Lake County associate judge ordered Beeson's 5 acres and nursery business sold at auction.

On March 15, the day of the auction, eager bidders were told by the Lake County Sheriff's Department that Beeson had filed for bankruptcy March 12 and the auction was called off pending a decision.

Real estate speculators have been eyeing the 5 acres for years as a potential gold mine for development, according to Beeson.

Back in 1990, and with his father's approval, Beeson had planned a new nursery in the style of a rustic farm with a barnyard. His current plans are scaled back.

"Beeson's will be five times bigger than what we have now for the store," he said.

His troubles are not entirely over. There are six suits still pending involving the family trust and other issues, including the bank from which Garrett siphoned off Beeson's money. Ownership of another 9.5 acres of property near the corner also must be settled.

But the major battle is over.

"We'll be here for the next 100 years," Beeson said. "They said when Charles Beeson died, his dreams died with him. They were wrong. They are my dreams too."